Cover for containers of different sizes



y 1937. 5. J. BRANDSTEIN 2,080,108

COVER FOR CONTAINERS OF DIFFERENT SIZES Filed Nov. 21, 1936 AM /9 l3 7 INVE T R.

ATTORNEY.

Patented May 11, 1937 UNITED STATES COVER FOR CONTAINERS OF DIFFERENT SIZES Samuel J. Brandstein, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application NovemberZl, 1936, Serial No. 111,983

7 Claims.

5 proved means whereby a cover may be removably positioned on articles of different sizes or shapes to cover, conceal, or protect the articleor the contents thereof, and to expose at will .a normally covered portion ofthe article for access thereto or for inspection of said normally covered portion of the article.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the nature setforth wherein a cover and an article are coordinated in an improved manner so that the cover is elastically contractibly secured around the article, and a portion of the cover may be removed by stretching a contractile portion and without causing the cover to thus snap off from the article.

In the use of a cover contractibly elastically secured around an article, for instance, a container, and whereby the cover efliciently prevents the entrance of air or dust, it is often desirable to obtain quick access to the article or contents of said container, without removing the entire cover. It is further desirable to obtain such access, while leaving both hands free for other purposes. Particularly is such access advantageous when the'container is filled with foods, and is positioned as in a refrigerator. The housewife sometimes wants to remove some of the food, without taking out the container, and there may not be sufiicient' room for removing or reapplying the cover.. In that case, this invention is of particular utility; and it is also of general advantage with other types of articles, glass ware, illuminating devices, and the like, where for any reason it is desired to partially expose a normally covered portion or face of the article, which may project light, or which may be ornamented or decorated.

It is therefore a further object of the invention to provide a device which shall fulfill all the above mentioned objects and which shall be simple and cheap to manufacture, easy to wash and clean, neat in appearance, durable, reliable, compact and efficient in use.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the specification proceeds.

With the aforesaid objects in view, the invention consists in the novel combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described in their preferred embodiments, pointed out in the subjoined claims, and illustrated in the annexed drawing, wherein like parts are designated by the same reference characters throughout the several views.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a device embodying the invention with a normally covered portion of an article exposed by the cover.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view thereof.

Fig. 3 is an inverted plan view of the removed cover.

Fig. 4 is a view in side elevation showing the modification of the invention, including a fully covered article.

Fig. 5 is an inverted plan view of the removed modified cover.

The advantages of the invention as here outlined are best realized when all of its features and instrumentalities are combined in one and the same structure, but, useful devices may be produced embodying less than the whole.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains, that the same may be incorporated in several difierent constructions. The accompanying drawing, therefore, is submitted merely as showing the preferred exemplification of the invention.

Referring in detail to the drawing, Ill denotes a device embodying the invention. This may include a cover ll embodying the invention, and an article l2 which is to be normally covered by the cover H or to be partially exposed thereby,

as shown, while the cover is reliably self maintained on the article.

The cover ll may include a member l3 of fiexible,'pliable or limp material, having a pcripheral portion or element l4 that is normally contracted to produce a peripheral gathered portion IS in the member.

Extending along a portion of said periphery is an elongated element [6 of any suitable material, which is connected to a peripheral portion such as M or H5, at spaced points I I and is otherwise free.

More specifically, the member l3 may consist of a textile fabric, leather, rubber, oiled silk, Cellophane, or other composition material, which maybe porous but is preferably fluid tight, so that the cover can be efiiciently used for the preservation of foods. The portion I4 is intended to include a drawstring or other contracting means,

but is preferably of a flexible elastic material,

' such as a rubber or rubberized strip suitably relatively continuously secured to the member 13. While-the latter may consist of a disc of material, it may also have other shapes, and may be polygonal in form, the term periphery being intended to broadly denote the marginal or nearmarginal portion of such member. The element l6 may especially consist of widely varying materials, its function being realized by acting as a continuation of an opposed portion of the contractile means Hi When a portion of the cover is lifted up as will be described hereinafter.

If desired, only the portion I ia adjacent to the element l6 and between the points ll may be of elastic tension material or rubber, and the remaining portion Mb together with the element [6 may be regarded as a one piece contractile element or draw string.

The article l2 may illustratively consist of a container having a mouth forming rim l8.

The cover II is adapted to be secured over and around articles of difierent sizes by merely stretching or otherwise elongating the contractible portion l4, and then contracting the same around the article l2 below the rim I8. The element l6 will thus also lie along the outside of the article and may lie in the plane of the portion i l or in angularly spaced relation thereto. The ten sion in the element It may be different from or substantially less than the tension in the portion N.

If it is to be desired to uncover a portion of the article l2, the portion IQ of the cover adjacent to the element [6 is merely pulled upward and sprung upon the top of the article as shown in Fig. 1, and will not become detached by the contracting action of the elastic portion I4. The retaining element l6 will cooperate with the opposed contractible portion I 4 that lies below the rim to maintain the cover secured on the article. In fact, the cover portion l9 remains in positive open position and cannot accidentally move to covering position. If now the normal full covering position of the article is desired, the portion I9 is merely pulled over the exposed rim portion of the article. The desired action may be realized by making of elastic material only that portion of the part I 4 which is adjacent to the element l6, and the rest of the part It may then be merely flexible.

Sometimes, in applying a cover to an article which is somewhat too large for the normal use of the cover, the high degree of stretching of the elastic portion l4 may cause the same to slip off the article, particularly if there is no rim flange on the latter. This can be avoided with the cover II, by first engaging the cover portion l9 around the article, since the element I 6 then supplements the adjacent portion l4, and then drawing the rest of the cover over and around the article. Thus the element l6 may also aid in the applying of the. cover to an article.

If the element I6 has greater extensibility than the elastic portion [4, it will ndergo a greater degree of stretch than the latter when the cover is partially opened as in Fig. 1, to thus expose a larger portion of the article.

In Figs. 4 and 5 is shown a device 2| embodying the invention, and which differs from the device l0 principally in that the cover 22 includes in place of the element IS, an elastic contractile strip such as 23 which extends continuously around the elastic contractile portion l4 and is secured thereto at opposed or marginally spaced points 24. This permits opposed portions of the cover to be lifted at will in the manner indicated in Fig. 1. Hence the operator may conveniently lift the portion of the cover nearest to him to gain access to the container I2. The closed position of the cover as shown is the same as that for the cover II.

It will now be seen that I have provided a device which fulfills the objects of the invention and is well adapted for practical use with articles of different sizes, while being a unitary structure that is flexible throughout and hence easily washable. It will be noted that the element I6 is representative of any restraining means which co-operates as with the securing contractile portion [4b so that the latter tends to maintain the restraining means in removable engagement with the lip l8,'especially when the cover is partially removed as at ,l 9; and the invention may include other restraining means secured to the cover at spaced points, as for example, a pair of clips or hooks that may be individually connected to the 1 cover at points I! and slipped into removable engagement with the lip [8. It will be observed that the restraining elements l6 and 23 are spaced downward as shown in Figs. 1 and 4 for ready visibility, so that a person may grasp and lift oif an adjacent part of the cover without accidentally grasping the restraining element.

I claim:

1. A cover including a member of flexible material having a flexible peripheral engaging portion, and a flexible elastic normally contracted element extending along a portion of said periphery and connected at spaced points thereto and being otherwise free of said member, and a part of the peripheral portion adjacent to said element being elastic and normally contracted.

2. A cover including a member of flexible material having a flexible elastic normally con tracted peripheral portion, and an elastic tension element extending continuously around said periphery and connected thereto at substantially spaced points and being otherwise separate of the member.

3. A cover including a disc member of flexible material having an elastic normally contracted peripheral portion, and a flexible elastic element extending along another portion of the periphery of the member and connected at spaced points to the member and being otherwise separate therefrom.

4. A device including a container, a cover therefor comprising a. member of flexible material having an elastic normally contracted peripheral portion removably engaged around the container, and a tension element extending along a portion of said periphery and secured thereto at spaced points, said tension element extending along the outside of the container to permit the adjacent portion of the cover to be raised to uncover a portion of the container without removal of the cover from the container by contraction of said peripheral portion of the member.

5. A bowl cover comprising a member consisting of a limp disc shaped piece of sheet material, and elastic strip means having one section continuously engaged with the member substantially along the entire periphery thereof and being normally contracted to releasably secure the cover around bowls of difierent sizes below the rims thereof, and a second section extending along a portion of said periphery and being normally contracted and secured to the cover at points sufliciently-spaced apart to permit the intermediate portion of the cover including the adjacent portion of the first section to be lifted up over the bowl for access thereinto, while the second section cooperates with the remainder of the first section to maintain the cover secured to the bowl, and the second section forming a continuous permanent connection between said points and'being of a length in its contracted condition substantially equal to the length between said points of the adjacent portion of the first section in its contracted condition.

6. A- device including a cover comprising a generally disc shaped member of limp material having a flexible elastic normally contracted peripheral portion removably engageable around anarticle, and a tension element adapted to extend along a portion of the periphery of the member and secured thereto at spaced points, said tension element being adapted to engage along-the article around the outside thereof to permit the adjacent portion of the cover to be raised to uncover a substantial portion of the article without removal of the cover from the article.

' '7. A device including a cover comprising a one piece disc member having a flexible elastic normally contracted peripheral portion removably engageable around an article, and a flexible tension element adapted to extend along said peripheral portion and secured thereto at substantially spaced points, the length of the said element'in its contracted condition being sub stantiaily equal to the length of the said peripheral portion in its contracted condition.

y SAMUEL J. BRANDSTEIN. 

